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Hotels and conference centers are not the only venues that should be considered for an event. Venues come in all shapes and sizes and often the most out-of-the-box venues make the most spectacular events. In addition to choosing a venue there are many other considerations to be made such as catering, entertainment, and third party vendors.

Fortunately, we at Kaleidoscope understand the pressure and the stress of picking out places and closing with vendors, and so we’ve compiled a list of questions you should ask yourself and potential vendors in order to ensure that on the day of your event there will be no surprises.

Questions to ask potential venues:

– What are the facility costs, and do they vary by season, hour, and day of the week? What is the cancellation policy?

– Does the venue have insurance? Is there an added cost for insurance?

– Is there parking available for guests? Is there an added cost? Is valet available?

– What kitchen and catering facilities and equipments are available for use and are they only available if an in-house caterer is used?

– Are there any decorative restrictions (such as lighting, fabric hanging and multimedia incorporations)

– What are the sound, lighting, and Av equipment that is available at the venue? What is included in the price and what has an extra cost added?

– Can the venue provide staffing for the event? If so, how many people and what are the costs? Make sure there is an engineer or AV specialists to prevent critical issues.

Questions to ask potential caterers:

– Are the chefs active in their field and up to date with continuous education in their specialty and in relation to the culinary world as a whole?

– Is there a separate cost for food, staff and equipment and transportation? What are the added taxes?

– Does the staff have banquet and event training and experience? Are there any specialists on the staff?

– What is the staff per person ratio? It is recommended (unless you are planning a VIP event) to have 1 waiter for 25-30 people if it is a sit down meal, and 1 for every 50 if it is a buffet style meal.

– Will the food be done at the company headquarters or at the venue? If at the venue, what equipment is needed?

Of course there are just some of the many questions and concerns you should clarify with potential venues and vendors prior to closing with them. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact us!

It is impossible to get away from the importance of social media sites and online marketing and networking. Even here at Kaleidoscope we’re re-branding ourselves with this blog, a new website (which is in the works) a Facebook account and a twitter page (check them out!).

Marketing your conference or event via twitter is a great way to increase awareness and promote your event.

1) Create a hashtag for your event (a hashtag is a twitter symbol used to keep track of topics and events. Example #Kaleidoscope will give you all the latest posts where Kaleidoscope is mentioned)

2) Register your hashtag on twitter.com

3) Add your hashtag on all marketing printer material

4) If you are planning on using flickr, be sure to use the same hashtag

5) Promote discussion of the event during the event itself by leaving room for people to add in their twitter name on their name tags. If presentations will be used during the conference or events, add the event hashtag to the presentations to encourage discussion.

Don’t forget that twitter is just another way to reach out and talk to participants so be sure to keep them interested with new and fresh tweets… and of course don’t forget to follow us @KaleidoscopeLTD

It’s no secret that the global climate crisis is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. The United States White House administration went so far as to recently declare that they would like the public to begin regarding “global warming” as “global climate disruption” so as to accentuate the severity of the problem and bring to further realization its urgency.

Meeting and event planners worldwide, Kaleidoscope included, have made a conscious effort to address this issue and raise corporate social responsibility and awareness. Whether planning the wedding of your dreams, or annual meeting, it is important to know that it is possible to minimize environmental damage without compromising the theme, style, and feel of your event. Just because you are going green, doesn’t mean you are spending more green, and it certainly doesn’t mean you are compromising your overall event experience.

Making your meeting or event green-friendly could mean purchasing more local products to avoid large shipments, recycling shipping and packaging materials to minimize pollution of shipping, using energy saving light bulbs, or promoting electronic registration and distributing e-books instead of paper print outs. Whatever type of event you are planning, it is possible to make the event just as meaningful and impressive without causing unnecessary damage to the environment.

To set your meeting or event off on the right foot, you should first know what kind of event you are planning. This critical step is often overlooked and can cause unnecessary confusion later on when planning the nitty gritty details.

There five basic types are: Meeting and incentives, Medical conferences, corporate events, private events and multimedia events. Each of these categories can be further broken down, but let us first take a look at what differentiates each of these types.

Meetings and Incentivesare hosted by companies for their employees, clients, or shareholders. The purpose of these meeting is to motivate and inspire the participants, and there is a frequent infusion of multimedia aspects in the form of presentations highlighting the previous year/s. Most meetings and incentives take place away from the headquarters and home city, therefore adding extra excitement and making the atmosphere relaxed and enjoyable for all.

Healthcare/Medical Conferences are hosted by pharmaceutical companies, medical organizations, or individual doctors. Pharmaceutical companies hosting a conference do so to promote a new product or keep in touch with doctors and hospitals they work with, medical organizations (such as nurses societies, cardiologists societies etc) hold annual meetings to set goals and involve members, and individual doctors host meetings following groundbreaking research, publications or to convene leading medical figures. Medical conferences are centered on exhibitions and single or multiple plenary sessions and breakout sessions.

Corporate Events: Corporate events are the most various types of events and can include anything from product launches, automotive events, annual meetings, merge events, and many more. There is no definitive structure for a corporate event and the goals and objectives as well as overall look and feel must be discussed and mapped out prior to beginning the actual event planning. The venue selection is especially important for corporate events because it sets the mood and feel of the event.

Private Events: Stepping out of the corporate, medical, and high-tech bubble, private events are a world away from the other types of events. These events emphasize individuals and have a great deal of importance on the emotion and experience rather than the schedule and

Multimedia Events: Multimedia events have gained importance in recent years. Seldom are there pure multimedia events, but rather the multimedia aspects are incorporated into all other types of events. Multimedia events involve one of many of the following aspects: 3D visuals, holograms, theatrical and musical performances, personalized videos, custom presentations, and many more. One of the main advantages Kaleidoscope offers it’s clients is the services of our own in-house multimedia and video director. Working with the client, our director Dubi Yogev is able to bring to life the objective and goal of the meeting and incorporate unique multimedia aspects that will make the presentations, experience, and overall event more memorable for the participants.

If you need any help with your meeting, conference, incentive or event message us and we will be in touch with you as soon as possible!

Kaleidoscope is a conference, event and multimedia planning company with over 20 years of service across the world. This is our first blog (and entry!) and we’re really excited about it. Stay tuned for tips and advice on everything you need to know about planning the perfect event… and of course special updates about Kaleidoscope, our team, events, and more.